SCA Natural Resource Interns
Position Description
The Natural
Resource Interns will assist the park's Natural Resource Management staff with
several projects at the Barataria Preserve Unit. Interns will undertake field work, lab work
and office work in support of establishing environmental monitoring
instrumentation (including water level loggers, surface elevation assessment
installations, a weather station …), implementing natural resource assessment
programs (including feral pig impacts, breeding bird monitoring, invasive plant
species monitoring and management, and developing aspects of a ‘citizen
science’ environmental monitoring program) and assisting with various research
projects. In addition, these interns
will play a key role in supporting the “science” field operations of the 2013
National Park Service/National Geographic Society BioBlitz which will take
place at the Preserve on May 17th and 18th.
These
positions will entail field work across the matrix of coastal wetland
ecosystems that comprise the Barataria Preserve, including off-trail work in
swamps and marshes and travel by foot and small boat, during late Spring and
Summer – times of high heat and humidity when biting insects are abundant. Field activities will range from low skill
low expertise tasks like invasive species removal and basic sampling to high
skill and/or high expertise tasks like datalogger communications, identifying
birds by call and operating power tools in remote settings. Lab type work will include small scale
construction, sample processing, some microscopy, instrument calibration and
data acquisition. Office work will
include data management, programming dataloggers and the like.
Useful skills
include the ability to navigate in terrestrial systems using a compass and/or a
gps unit, experience working/playing in subtropical coastal wetland landscapes,
familiarity with some of the biota of these ecosystems, work with simple
dataloggers, power tool use, small boat operation, lab task skills, data
collection &/or data management skills, and the ability to work in teams
and independently. Interested interns
may be able to complete the Department of the Interior Motorboat Operator
Certification Course.
Student
Conservation Association (SCA) position ID's (both for 'natural resource
management interns'; begin now through early May; 16 weeks) (url is http://mysca.force.com/member/MemberPositionsScout):
PO-00245955
PO-00322998
AMERICORPS ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARD POSITIONS
Project
Description
Over the past few decades a suite of invasive
floating aquatic plant species have invaded waterways in the Barataria Preserve
of Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve, so that their mats now
prevent boat access to large areas of the Preserve for much of the year. Focal species include the Water Hyacinth –
introduced about 100 years ago, Giant Salvinia – a comparatively recent invasive
species in the northern Gulf Coast with an exceptionally rapid rate of
population growth, and ‘Cuban’ nutsedge – another newer invader in the Preserve
that utilizes mats made of other invasive floating aquatic species to
establish. As a group, these are among
the most problematic invasive species in the region and much effort is directed
toward their control. Besides impeding
boat access through waterways, these invasive plant species compete with native
floating aquatic vegetation and change the quality of food available to
wetland- and waterway inhabitants. While
it is easy to detect their impact on the composition of floating aquatic plant
communities, we suspect these invasive species dominated mats have cascading
impacts on community structure and biological diversity and on ecosystem properties
ranging from light penetration into the water column to patterns of
productivity in the aquatic and adjacent terrestrial ecosystems.
Located just
15 miles south of New Orleans, Louisiana, the Barataria Preserve protects
23,000 acres of coastal wetlands in the Mississippi River delta. These wetlands are among the most
biologically productive ecosystems in the nation, and they sustain some of the
most productive fisheries and waterfowl populations on the planet. People have altered this wetland landscape
substantially, including by digging canals in order to access and extract these
natural resources as well as the abundant fossil fuel resources. The coast is now dissected by networks of
canals and several aggressive invasive species – including Water Hyacinth,
Giant Salvinia, ‘Cuban’ Nutsedge and others – are rapidly colonizing the
surfaces of many of these waterways.
The Preserve
(and the Park as a whole) aims to protect and conserve this natural landscape,
its biological diversity, human history and the diverse cultural traditions it
has inspired and nurtured. Invasive
species – including these floating aquatic species – threaten both the
biological integrity of Preserve ecosystems and the cultural use and enjoyment
of waterway access via canoes and other small boats. The Park’s Resource Management and
Interpretation staff are charged with trying to control invasive species, and
with effectively communicating the problem and our approaches to managing it to
the public. We also wish to involve the
public directly – via volunteer service – in our efforts to reduce invasive
species populations and their impacts on these natural and cultural resources.
Options for
reducing invasive floating aquatic species’ populations and the extent of their
waterway coverage include herbicide application, mechanical removal and
biological control. All of these
approaches require frequent and spatially extensive effort, and the latter two
require intensive investment of labor.
Because herbicide treatment impacts most or all of the floating aquatic
vegetation to which it is applied – not just the invasive species – as well as
the diverse biota living in Preserve waterways, and because herbicide residues
may remain in the ecosystem for decades, Resource Management staff prefer other
alternatives. While mechanical removal
is straightforward, it requires substantial investments in equipment and labor
and it also impacts all of the floating aquatic vegetation. Biological control targets focal species only
and requires no specialized equipment.
For example, over the past several years researchers and natural
resource managers throughout the tropics and subtropics have employed a
specific insect herbivore – a species of weevil – to control and reduce
invasive Salvinia populations. Agricultural extension experts and
researchers at Louisiana State University have developed a biocontrol approach
using this weevil in which they introduce weevil-infested Giant Salvinia to
waterways with Giant Salvinia invasions.
As it needs more food, the weevil moves from the plants on which it is
introduced to the Salvinia in the
waterway, eating the growing points of these plants. Over time, weevil populations increase and
their consumption of Salvinia can
reduce, and potentially stop, the spread of this aggressive invader. These weevils specialize in eating Salvinia and they have not been observed
changing their diet and moving to other plant species, so they are not
considered a threat to native vegetation or to the native food web. In late summer 2011 Park Resource Management
staff, with the assistance of Park volunteers (VIPs), initiated weevil
introduction into selected waterways in the Preserve. With the assistance of two Americorps
Environmental Stewards during summer 2012, we developed this effort into a
robust Giant Salvinia biocontrol program including dynamic interpretive
outreach. We seek to extend our
bio-control effort to other aggressive floating aquatic invasive species,
beginning with Water Hyacinth, for which two bio-control agents are being
tested and used in Louisiana.
Working
closely with the Park’s Natural Resource Management and Interpretation staff,
the Environmental Stewards will develop this effort into a vibrant integrative
program addressing Park needs and involving Park volunteers. Key elements of this floating aquatic
invasive species biocontrol program – and of the Steward’s summer work –
include sustaining the introduction and re-distribution of bio-control agents in
selected waterways, transferring (from our ongoing Giant Salvinia bio-control
program) and implementing monitoring protocols assessing spatial coverage of
floating aquatic invasive species and bio-control agent populations in these
waterways, organizing and leading Park volunteer effort on this project,
producing weekly reports on waterway accessibility for Park staff and the
public, and developing interpretive media and/or programs communicating the
need for, aims of, and status of this Park project.
Americorps
Environmental Steward positions (10 weeks beginning June 2nd; invasive
floating aquatic vegetation bio-control project is focus) (url is http://sccorps.org/join/environmental-stewards-summer-intern/).
